On the Rebound
by Greendogg
Summary: What starts out as a normal day leads to one misadventure after another.
1. Starting out

**For those that have read the story: The Marcus files: Rebound, this is the same story but with a different title and a few changes. Anyway, due to some 'technical difficulties' this story has been reposted.**

_**This can't be happening.**_

_That's what I thought when I found out this morning. It was a typical Friday, nothing special. I was on his way to meet Joshua. He was treating me to Starbucks today. On my way to the shuttle's landing bay, That's when I heard the news with my own two ears…_

"You wanted to see me, boss?" Marie asked.

"Boss?" I thought to myself when I heard Marie. I don't have a clue how she gets away with that. Oh well, we're friends.

Marie and Marcus had known each other since they were three years old. Since then, the two of them had got to be close friends.

"So? What did you want to show me?" Marie asked once more sounding both eager and curious.

A moment ago, she had been called into Anna's executive suite. At first she assumed it was something work related but this obliviously wasn't the case.

"This," Anna replied calmly, placing a small black box on her desk.

Marie looked at the box and frowned.

"I don't get it,"

"Not the box, open it." Anna said.

Doing as she was told, Marie picked up the box and opened it.

"A ring? Whoa, look at the size of that d…" just then, Anna cut her off.

"Keep it down, Marie. We don't want anybody to hear us."

"Too late," Marcus muttered, standing right outside the door but making sure he stayed well hidden.

"That's real nice, who gave it you?" Marie continued as she looked at the diamond ring.

"Chad," Anna replied.

"The journalist?" Marie asked.

"No, the mechanic, of course the journalist!" Anna exclaimed.

Marie pushed back some of her silky red hair before she spoke.

"Hang on, was this another business meeting?"

_Every once in a while, Chad and Anna had lunch together… a business lunch… then there was the time she invited him over for a business dinner. After the third week, I came to the conclusion they dropped the business part._

"He gave it to me last night." said Anna with a smile on her face.

"What was the occasion?" Marie asked before taking a sip of her coffee from her silver thermos.

"He proposed." Anna answered.

Marie choked and coughed.

"What?" she shouted after getting herself together.

"Chad Decker from Prime Focus on WNT popped the question?"

Anna simply nodded.

Marie grinned, "Ok, where's the hidden camera? This has to be some kind of a joke."

"It's no joke, Marie. He really did ask me." said Anna.

"So, what'd you tell him? Yes or no?" Marie replied.

Anna blinked for a moment before answering.

"Well I told him I'd… think about it."

Marie's green eyes widened.

"Think about it?"

"Think about i…?" Marcus muttered, almost repeating the question. "Is she crazy? She'd be the laughing stock of this ship and the other 28 for that matter… not to mention if anybody else finds out about this.." he said quietly.

"Have you given this some thought?" Marie asked curiously.

"Yes, I've been thinking it over." was Anna's response.

"Kay, have you guys…" she paused.

"What?" Anna asked, cutting Marie off.

"Thought about what your kids would be like?" Marie finally asked.

Marcus' jaw dropped, Kids? What did she mean by that?

"I never thought of that." Anna confessed.

"Think it over," said Marie.

"Ok, I will," Anna replied. She raised an eyebrow and asked.

"What are you doing?"

"Are you sure this is a real diamond?" Marie replied, holding up the sterling silver engagement ring.

"Quit it, Marie" said Anna, she could only take so many jokes in one sitting.

"I'm just sayin'!" the red headed V sputtered.

"Uh-huh," Anna said in a dull tone.

Marie set the ring back down. Anna picked it up and smiled.

"I'll leave you two alone," Marie joked, she snorted in an attempt to keep from laughing. As she headed towards the door, Marcus took off.

"Better get out of here," he mumbled to himself and made a quick exit.

Sometime later, Marcus caught up with Joshua at Starbucks.

"One Mocha latté and a Pike's roast coffee." Someone shouted.

"Thanks," said Joshua before picking up the two cups.

"Thank you," Marcus said with a grin as he took the cup.

"Eh, it's no problem." Joshua replied before he sat down and took a sip of his coffee. This one of the few things he looked forward to at the end of the week. It gave him and Marcus a chance to talk and relax.

"So, you ready?" he asked.

"For what?" Marcus asked, sounding puzzled.

"The courtship, it's tonight." Joshua announced.

Marcus coughed,

"Tonight?"

"Yes, it's tonight, and it's not just us. The other 28 ships are…" Joshua trailed off.

"Say no more." Marcus told him, he had forgotten about the whole thing.

"There's a rumor going around that there are a few groups from the other ships coming here." Joshua added with a little smile.

"Is that so?" Marcus asked curiously.

"That's what I heard, but I'm not sure." Joshua answered.

"Joshua, I couldn't find a mate back home, I doubt I could find one here." Marcus admitted.

"But we're not back home. You might find one this time." he pointed out.

"Sure," said Marcus as he rolled his blue eyes.

"You barely touched your latte, is something wrong?" Joshua asked.

"Well, now that you mentioned it there is something bothering me." Marcus replied.

"But… I'd rather not talk about it."

"You sure?" Joshua asked as he tilted his head curiously. "If you get it out now, it'll make you feel better."

"I heard Anna and Marie talking and… found out that Chad Decker…" Marcus trailed off and mumbled at the end of his sentence.

"Has the flu?" Joshua asked in a puzzled tone.

"No! He proposed to Anna," Marcus announced.

Joshua nearly fell out of his seat, laughing.

"That's a good one."

"I'm not joking." Marcus said firmly.

Joshua froze; he really was serious about this.

"O…k, so, did Anna say yes?"

"No, but she did say she'd thinking about it." Marcus replied.

"Really?" Joshua asked in surprise and snickered.

"Shut up Joshua, it's not that funny." Marcus said.

"Yes it is," the redhead replied with a laugh. One customer sitting across from them looked up from her laptop. After a couple minutes, Joshua calmed down. "Ok, ok I'm done, phew! I'll see you tonight. Oh and uh… wear something nice." He said before getting up. Their break was now over.

"This isn't a black tie event, is it?" Marcus asked.

"No, it's not," was Joshua's reply. "Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time I wore a tie." He said before he walked out.

"Neither can I." Marcus admitted.

That night, things started out pretty quiet, or so it seemed.

"How do I look?" Samuel asked, he entered the room wearing a dark blue sweater and corduroys.

"Nice," Joshua replied.

"Not bad at all," Thomas agreed.

Samuel grinned, appreciating the feedback. He looked at Thomas for a minute and walked up to him.

"What do you have on?"

"Hey!" the other male Visitor yelped.

Samuel looked at the tag on Thomas' turtleneck.

"Ralph Lauren?" he asked.

"What's wrong with it?" Thomas replied.

"Nothing," Samuel said, letting go of the grey turtleneck. "It's just that… are turtlenecks the only shirt you have in your wardrobe?"

"No, why?" Thomas asked.

"I rest my case." Samuel sighed.

"Whatever you say…I'll meet you at the lounge," said Thomas and with that he left.

"How long do you think it'll be before he realizes that his turtleneck's on backwards?" Samuel asked.

"I'll give him twenty minutes." Joshua answered.

Samuel chuckled; this would be a good story to tell later that night.

While the two of them got ready Marcus had done the same. Rather than wear his usual dark brown, he switched to a casual black dress shirt and pants. Before leaving his room, he stopped to watch the latest episode of Prime Focus. It was just a typical interview. He was used to it now.

"So, in a few months we'll probably see some little Vs running around." Chad half joked. The last part of the interview had been about the Courtship going on that evening.

"Yes, you will." Anna replied.

Chad laughed, "Ok, and that's all the time we have, this is Chad Decker, Prime Focus of WNT, Manhattan, New York."

Marcus flipped off the flat TV screen and sighed.

"Hey," Marie called, stepping into his room. She whistled to get his attention. "Marc, let's go."

"Coming!" he replied. "You know Marie, it was fine when you called me that when we were kids but that was, what, twenty some years ago?" Marcus continued regarding his nickname.

"I'm just playing, nothing wrong with that, is there?" Marie asked, frowning.

"No, not all." was Marcus' reply after a brief pause.

"Just come on." Marie sighed.

The Skyline Lounge was a place at the bottom of the Mothership where tourists and Vs could talk or just sit around. The view of Manhattan from the large windows was breathtaking. But tonight, things were different; the tourists were nowhere to be found. The only ones in the room were several working class Vs. All of them adults ranging from their early 20s to late 30s. A tall male Visitor with short brown hair raised his head up and let out a loud vocal cry. The sound was similar to that of a wolf's howl. Another V, a female long black hair replied with the same cry, only her voice was much higher. The male then cried out again. A series of various vocal cries from both males and females could be heard throughout the room.

Two young adult visitors walked in, laughing and talking.

"Wow, your hair looks great tonight." said one of them.

"You think so?" the second one asked.

"Look at this place," said Marcus, who was shocked by the number of people that came.

"You can say that again this is… Wait a second… excuse me." Thomas said before walking over to the two females that had just stepped in.

"I tried some new shampoo and it really…" the blond female explained until Thomas chimed in.

"Hello there," he greeted her.

The blond and her friend looked over at Thomas, waiting for him to say something else.

"Um… a little help here?" Thomas asked, looking back at Joshua, Samuel and Marcus.

All three of them groaned.

"You're funny, you know that?" said the blonde before she and her friend walked away from the man in the turtleneck sweater.

"Oy," Thomas sighed.

Across the room, the females sat near Anna, some of them occasionally flinching in their seats.

"This'll be one of the biggest days of your life, so make it one to remember." said Anna. She had just got through giving a short pep talk before the females headed off. Her mother gave a similar speech a few years ago.

"Don't worry about messing up, guys. They'll never remember. Now get out there, chin up, chest out!" said Fredrick, an older male V who had given a similar pep talk to the males.

Shortly after getting up from his seat, Marcus tripped and hit the floor.

"Can somebody help him?" Fredrick sighed, shaking his head. The guy was hopeless.

_A short time later…_

In an effort to quench his thirst,Marcus picked up a cup with some ice cold water and took a sip.

"Well, isn't this a small world?" said a female voice.

Marcus froze and turned around.

"Sarita Malik, what are you doing here?"

"I came to watch the New York Mets… what do you think?" she said in a sarcastic tone.

"So, where is he?" Marcus asked.

"Who?" Malik replied.

"Your mate," Marcus answered.

"My… oh, I don't have one." Sarita announced.

"Then what are you…" Marcus was cut off.

"I came to watch, plus my niece, Willow is in town." She explained. "Over there,"

She pointed to a female V who was talking to Lisa. Willow looked like a younger version of Malik with the exception of a small beauty mark on her left cheek. She was standing with Lisa and a few other young Visitors who were all talking and laughing. They came only as observers but once the young bloods reached adulthood they'd leave home and possibly have families of their own.

"So, what are you doing here?" Sarita asked Marcus.

"Well, it's Friday and there was nothing good on TV." Marcus said sarcastically.

"Yeah right," Sarita replied before taking a bite of a cocktail shrimp. "These shrimp aren't bad, want one?" she offered.

"Why not?" Marcus shrugged before picking up one of the shrimp. He frowned for a moment. While Malik was used to eating human food, Marcus wasn't. Though he found out early on coffee wasn't so bad.

"Hey guys," Joshua greeted them as he walked up.

"How's it going?" Marcus asked.

"Oh…it's going all right." Joshua said nervously.

"I see," said Malik who glanced at the other males and females.

All of the females had a flower of some sort in their hair, including Malik. Hers was different though, it was a white hibiscus.

"The groups from the other 28 ships will be here soon." Joshua announced.

"You want to go look?" Marcus asked.

"Yeah, why not? I've got nothing better to do." Malik replied.

She turned around and noticed a male V in a red shirt smiling shyly at her.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

"No!" Sarita yelled.

"You told him, didn't you?" said Marcus as he watched the other V walk away.

"You don't want to have someone like that following you around. The first time that happened to me was on the subway." Malik explained.

She spotted Joshua who had left for a moment but came back.

"So, how you guys making out?" she asked.

"Well, see for yourself." he replied.

The trio noticed Samuel on the other side of the room talking to a female V. She was about his age, her dark hair was long and silky. Her appearance and thick accent made her stand out as well as the dark red quarter length shirt and gray pants she wore.

"So, you're from the Russian mothership?" Samuel asked.

"That's Fran, she got transferred here." Joshua explained.

"Wow," was all Sarita could say.

"I'll say," said Marie, watching the whole thing.

"Marie?" Sarita asked in surprise.

"Malik. Long time, no see. How ya been?" Marie replied.

"Good, and you?" the other female replied.

"Fine," Marie answered.

Just then, Joshua remembered he had someone he wanted to introduce.

"Oh! there's somebody I want ya to meet... Dusty!" he called.

"Yes?"

Dusty turned out to be a female V she had a golden brown complexion and curly brown hair and dark brown eyes. She wore a blue t-shirt and dark jeans, whereas Sarita had on a teal blouse and long khakis. Marie wore a lavender colored shirt and sweater set with a black skirt.

"This is Dusty, she's from L.A." Joshua explained.

These are your friends?" she asked.

"Yes" said Joshua.

"Ok, maybe you can show me around. Ya know, New York. Dusty suggested.

"Oh… sure." said Marie.

"We can play tour guide." Sarita added, glad to have something to do over the weekend.

"What do you plan on doing the rest of the night?"

Sarita brushed back some of her silky black hair for a moment before she answered. "I figured I'd stick around, do a little people watching; grab a movie at Blockbuster and head on home."

"But I thought you…" Marcus was cut off.

"I can't find a mate to save my life." Sarita told him.

"Neither can I" Marcus sighed.

Looking around the room, both Marcus and Sarita noticed some of the other Vs were mostly talking. Not too far away was a male and female, one wearing a black shirt and the other in blue. The two of them rubbed noses briefly, making it obvious they were mates.

Both Sarita and Marcus let out a deep sigh but quickly snapped out of it.

The awkward silence didn't last long.

"Hello all, have you met Fran?" Samuel asked as he walked over with the woman he had been talking to.

"No, I haven't. Nice to meet you," said Marcus as he extended his right hand.

"Same to you," Fran replied, "I can speak a little English…"

"

She shook hands with Marcus, who nodded while looking slightly intimidated.

"So, Marcus where's your…?" Samuel started to say.

He stopped when he noticed his friend look down at the floor with a put-out expression.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Don't worry, it'll still happen for ya!" he apologized.

"I'll be fine," said Marcus.

"You sure?" Joshua asked sympathetically, he had been talking to Dusty but had also overheard the conversation.

"Fellas, relax. The next female that walks into this room, she's mine." Marcus told them, trying to stay optimistic. He looked at the door for a minute or two.

Just then, Anna entered the lounge with two other females that were about her age. All three of them wearing a dress in a certain shade of blue with a white orchid in their hair.

"Whoa, Anna looks great..." said Marcus once he spotted her.

"Marcus?" Joshua asked. He waved his hand in front of his face.

"Earth to Marcus."

At that moment, Marcus completely ignored him. He was currently daydreaming that he was in Central Park; it was a pleasant summer night. There was a full moon and the song "Always and Forever" playing in the background:

_Male Singer: "Always and forever… Each moment with you… Is just like a dream to me that somehow came true, yeah. And I know tomorrow will still be the same, Cuz we got life of love that won't ever change, and…_

_Male Singer and Chorus: "Everyday love me your own special way melt all my heart away with a smile."_

Right at the moment, he and Anna were sitting on a bench side by side.

_Male singer: "Take time to tell me you really care and we'll share tomorrow…"_

(Song stops abruptly)

(Record Skips)

It wasn't long before Marcus snapped out of his thought and realized he was accidentally hugging Sarita.

"Hey!" she yelled.

"Aah!" Marcus yelped and let go of her.

"Sorry Malik. Excuse me..." he immediately headed in the direction of the exit.

"Whoa!" Samuel exclaimed and darted out in front of him along with Joshua.

"Where do you think you're going?" Joshua asked.

"I'm just…" Marcus was cut off.

"Marcus, you know the rules, she's a Queen and you're a Worker." Joshua told him. "We can eat together…"

"But you can't… you know, hang out together." Samuel finished.

"Ok, look... I'm just… gonna go say hello." said Marcus. He started to walk away and Marie followed him.

"Hey, you've got us," she pointed out.

"Thanks Marie," Marcus said with a smile. One of the things he liked about her was she always looked on the bright side. The two of them were then alerted by a loud whistle.

"They're here," Joshua announced.

Marcus and Marie followed their friends to the landing bay.

One by one, shuttles from the other 28 ships landed.

After the door to the last one opened, a young woman around Malik's age stepped out.

She had semi-long red hair slightly lighter than Marie's and olive green eyes. She wore a dark blue headband, a long sleeve yellow button-down shirt, dark pants and tennis.

As she looked around, she saw Marcus and the others and smiled.

"Aww..." they all said simultaneously.

"That girl's got more appeal than the headlines of the New York Times." said Joshua.

Another V, a tall strong male with short black hair came out shortly after.

"Please, girl, please, I can't take it anymore!" he said as she darted out in front of him, eager to explore her new surroundings.

"What's with him?" Marcus asked.

"Heck if I know." Sarita answered.

Just then, Anna walked up and obviously wasn't in the best mood at the moment.

"You there, just what do you think you're doing tearing into this place like some shuttle driving muscle bound…" she stopped when she noticed the other V was crying."Sobbing little school girl?"

Thomas gasped when he recognized the person Anna was talking to.

"That's Shane, the captain of the London mothership. Nice to…"

Before Thomas could finish Shane blew his nose on one of Thomas' sleeves and continued bawling.

"Meet you," Thomas finished, frowning at the stain on his left sleeve.

"I've worked with a lot of interns, but this one takes the cake. Please, Anna you've got to take this girl off my hands!" Shane begged.

"This one?" Anna asked, she looked at the girl Shane had mentioned.

"Yes! Yes! Release me from this nerve wracking devastating burden!" Shane yelled before he started sobbing again.

"Um, sure ok. Thomas, show our guest to the Skylight Lounge." said Anna "And I'll get you a tissue," she offered. The two of them then left the landing bay.

The walk back to the lounge was pretty quiet, Thomas and the new intern hardly made eye contact, neither one of them said a word to each other. Once they reached the lounge, the silence didn't last for long.

"Now don't you worry about a thing, young blood, I'm sure you'll fit right in." said Thomas. He patted the redhead on the shoulder and went catch up with Anna.

Seeing how nobody else had approached the new girl, Marcus decided to introduce himself.

"Hello, I'm Marcus and you are…?" before he could finish, the other V spoke.

"I'm Reina! But everybody calls me Rebound. That big guy was the captain of the London ship, he was all vroom-vroom and I was all Are we there yet? Then I looked out the window and here we are! London's really nice, you should visit."

Then she hugged Joshua, Her hair brushed up against his right cheek, tickling him, he couldn't help but laugh.

"H-hey, slow down there, Reina." He said.

Reina then circled Marcus, sniffing him curiously as she went.

He tried to keep a straight face but couldn't help but chuckle.

Malik giggled, it was hilarious. "Girl, you're so funny. You can frolic around this room for all I care."

As Reina did just that, Sarita nearly fell over laughing but stopped when Reina accidentally stepped on her foot.

"Ouch! That hurt!"

Reina found some ribbon hanging off a nearby table, and grabbed it. Holding it between her hands and teeth she growled playfully and shook it.

"It's interesting how the playful ones entertain themselves." said Marie.

She watched Reina a little while longer, the other redhead continued to growl and shake the purple colored ribbon. Marie's right eye twitched.

"Ohh! How can I resist?" Marie joined in, grabbing the other end of the ribbon and pulling on it with her teeth and hands. She and Reina growled playfully at each other, almost as if they were young Vs again.

"Pretty funny," said Malik,

"Yep, this one will be a cinch to work with." Joshua replied. He assumed Reina would be staying for a while.

Despite that Reina had a rather thick British accent and spoke fast, it was obvious Joshua and the rest of the group had taken a liking to her.

_Elsewhere…_

"Thank you, so much Ms. Anna, I will not forgot this." Shane told her as he shook her hand. The two of them had agreed to have Reina transferred from London to New York.

"Well, hopefully, I will. Bye now." she replied.

"Ugh! I hate this job." she muttered once Shane had left her office.

"Boy, that was strange, I've never seen a grown man so upset." Thomas said.

"Yes, the bigger they are the harder they cry. You wouldn't catch me acting like that." No sooner did Anna finish her sentence, her cell phone rang.

"Hello? C-Chad, I was just thinking of calling you." Anna replied. "No, really I mean it. I'd do anything for… another interview? Here? Tomorrow? But but…" before Anna could say anything else Chad apparently hung up.

"No!" Anna yelled.

She then started to cry, at that moment Thomas frowned.

"Sleeve, ma'am?" Thomas offered, holding out his right sleeve.

Shortly after he extended his arm Anna blew on Thomas' sleeve.

"Thank you, Thomas." She said.

Back in the lounge, Reina was still playing with the ribbon, growling as she shook it.

"You know Reina, there's a saying. There's somebody for everyone." said Joshua.

"So don't you worry about finding a mate." Marie assured her.

"Oh, I'm not worried, 'cause I'm pretty. That's what everyone says and guys like pretty girls so they probably like me. Did I mention I was pretty?" said Reina. Everyone looked at her as if she was…well, crazy.

"Ooh, Snickers!" she exclaimed.

Somebody had left a Snickers bar out, but once Reina got a hold of it all that was left was the half-chewed wrapper.

"Ooh, soda!"

Shortly after polishing off the Snickers, Rebound discovered the can of Pepsi that was sitting next to it. Like the snickers, the soda was gone within moments.

"Ooh, a jacket!" she grabbed it and tugged playfully.

"H-hey! I'm wearing that!" said Joshua; he jogged around the room in an effort to get away and ended up dragging Reina behind him.

Shortly after, Lisa walked in the room with a smile on her face.

"Hey guys! You should've seen what happened, I was running and Tyler was…" Lisa stopped when she saw Joshua and Reina.

"Hey, hey come' on Rebound, let go!" Joshua begged.

"Oh no, not her. It can't be, I'm outta here!" said Lisa before she ran off.

"What's eatin' her?" Sarita asked.

"Hey, I'm the one who's getting eaten here, a little help?" Joshua asked.

"I'll go find Lisa, you see if you pry the new girl off Joshua's tail." said Marcus before making his exit.

Meanwhile, Marcus wasn't the only one with a problem.

"In less than 24 hours, Chad's going to walk right through that door. What am I going to do?" Anna asked.

"Well, you could set out a nice spread with some cookies and…" Thomas suggested.

"Thomas, you dimwit, I'm not worried about entertaining him, I'm worried his father will find out about him being engaged."

"He doesn't know about that?" Thomas asked.

"Chad never told him, and going to meet him has put me in a ver stressful position. I mean he knows I live in New York City but I always let people think I'm a big shot." Anna explained.

"But being engaged is something any parent would be happy about." Thomas pointed out.

"Not to Chad's father, he hates Vs. The last thing he'd want to see is a Mothership." said Anna.

"Well, gee that's too bad, boss. Because he'll know what this place is as soon as he sees it. I mean what else could it be?" Thomas continued.

Just then, Anna had an idea.

"Thomas, that's it! What else could it be?"

"I don't know, but could you open the door? You just slammed it on my pinky!" said Thomas.

"Quiet, I'm thinking." Anna told him.

After looking around for the last fifteen minutes, Marcus found Lisa hiding in a closet.

"Lisa? Hey, what's the deal?"

"Is she gone? Please tell me she isn't still there." Lisa said nervously.

"Who? Malik?" Marcus asked.

"Not Malik! The new intern." Lisa whispered.

"Rebound?" Marcus replied.

"Don't say that name!" Lisa begged.

"You know her?" Marcus asked.

"Know her? I survived her, that girl is my cousin!" Lisa announced.

Marcus raised an eyebrow.

"Your cousin?"

"By marriage," Lisa added.

"Well, isn't that a good thing?" Marcus asked her.

"No! It's terrible! She was always jumping on me, chasing after me. Never leaving me alone." Lisa explained.

"Aw, come on. She's grown now." Marcus pointed out.

"Oh, you'll see Marcus, you'll see." Lisa told him before she went to her room.

As they walked down the hallway, Anna went over her plan.

"I'm a genius, Thomas, a genius!"

"But I still don't get your plan." he said, with a confused look on his face.

"It's simple, I'll disguise the entire mothership, Chad's father will have no idea what it is." Anna explained.

"Disguise the ship? but…" Thomas was interrupted by a brown haired V doctor that walked up to him and Anna.

"Excuse me, I'd like to a hire this girl, there's an opening in the medical bay." The doctor explained. Standing next to her was Reina.

"Fine, the fewer unemployed the better. But talk to him. As of this moment, I'm no longer dealing with this." said Anna before she headed back to her room.

Marcus and Joshua walked by when they saw Reina and the doctor.

She smiled at Reina briefly.

"Oh, aren't you sweet! We're going to have such fun."

"Look at that, nothing to worry about. Reina's been hired already." Marcus pointed out.

"You don't understand, Marcus. I found out there's reason her nickname's Rebound. No matter what you do you can't get rid of her, she always comes right back." Joshua explained.

"What?" Marcus said with a laugh. " That's ridic…"

Sure enough, the same doctor that had hired Reina ran back to Thomas, her ponytail and the rest of her hair was a mess!

"Aah! This girl is out of control. First she's messing with my hair, now she's rearranging the medical files. The laughing, the chatter, the nonstop phrenetic shenanigans! I can't handle it!" she said before she left; her laughter sounded like that of a crazy person.

"See? I told you." Joshua continued.

It didn't take Marcus long to figure it out. Joshua was right.

"Ok, this might be a little harder than I thought."

**PART 2 COMING SOON!**


	2. One Saturday Afternoon

**And now for Part 2: One Saturday afternoon**:** Chad's father, Orville arrives the next day, but can the gang keep it together?**

The sound of a helicopter flying overhead could be heard as well as a few other construction related sounds. "Three inches to the left, one inch to the right. No, no my right! Don't make me come up there you lunk-headed crane monkey!" Anna shouted.

She yelped fearfully as she dodged a wrench that fell from overhead.

"To the right… please?" she said nervously.

Since trying to disguise the ship was pretty much near impossible, she went with the next thing…covering up the depot that housed the shuttles used for tours.

Two of the construction workers set up props barrowed from one of the sound stages at the WNT studio in front of several of the shuttles. The point was to disguise them.

"What's that whacked out woman up to now?" Sarita asked, watching the whole thing from across the street.

"I don't know, but it certainly complicates things, doesn't it?" Marie replied.

The two of them noticed Rebound chasing a butterfly, going left then changing direction.

"Look at me, I'm running this way! Now I'm running that way!" she said cheerfully.

"Carrot top's got a point, how are we supposed to get this girl out of our hair with all that junk in the way?" Malik asked.

"Don't worry, I got a plan in the works that even Chad can't mess up."

"Samuel!" Joshua called.

"Right here Josh." He said stepping out from behind a tree.

"What the heck is that?" Sarita asked.

"It's called a flier, humans put them up all over the place." Samuel explained.

"You made it yourself?" Sarita continued.

"Course not, what do you think, I majored in graphic design? I called it in to the printers and they delivered it." Samuel explained.

"You are a genius, Samuel! I mean not technically speaking but well, you know." said Marie.

"Did you tell them to print exactly what I said?" Joshua asked.

"Absolutely." Samuel replied.

He cleared his throat and read a copy of the flier.

"Perky, beautiful intern looking for publicist…"

Rebound then ran up to him dropping a basketball at his feet.

"Throw me the ball! Throw me the ball!"

Samuel kicked the ball out of his way and Rebound took off running.

"One of a kind royal visitor with million dollar inheritance. I added that part." He continued.

Just then he noticed a red Frisbee next to him.

"Throw me the Frisbee! Throw me the Frisbee!" said Rebound.

Despite feeling a little…annoyed, Samuel threw it.

"If interested come to the WNT studio, Broadway, Manhattan." He finished.

"Fine, now about getting those fliers posted…" Joshua started to say.

"Already done, I called in a few favors. A paperboy here, an ad agency there and an hour later I got two-hundred of these on lamp posts, mailboxes and phone poles all over the city." Samuel explained.

"Little man, sometimes you amaze me." said Malik.

"Eh, it's nothing. It's like they say, one hand washes the other. Now, excuse me while I take a nap, I've been… uh… workin' my tail off if you know what I mean." Samuel replied before making his exit.

"Actually, I don't know what he means." Marie admitted.

"And I don't wanna know." Sarita said.

"Hey, where'd he go? We were playing catch but now he's gone, where'd he go?" Rebound asked after running up to Joshua.

"Samuel's taking a well earned cat nap, good news though, any minute now a whole pack of humans is gonna come through that gate looking just for you." He explained.

"Yay!" Reina cheered before running off.

"Speaking of looking for somebody, where's Marcus?" Joshua wondered.

A short time later, the helicopter and construction workers left.

"Wow, it looks like the shuttle depot Donald Trump would've built, if he were a V." said Thomas.

"This is no longer a shuttle depot and I am no longer in charge, today this is…" Anna stopped short and pulled back the red curtain covering the sign.

"The department of New York City Journalism and multimedia."

"Oh, sounds important, what is it?" Thomas asked.

"Exactly and exactly. When Chad's father drops by he'll be impressed for sure yet he'll have no idea why." said Anna.

"Did I say I'm a genius?"

"Everyday, ma'am, but what if he hears any background noise?" Thomas continued.

"That's where you come in, Thomas, you're job is to keep things quiet." Anna answered.

"Quiet? How am I supposed to keep a place full of Vs, quiet?" he asked.

"Here, take this; it's the key to my personal beef locker, if those nuts as so much as make a peep, throw a steak in their jowls." said Anna.

"Mm, beef." Thomas sighed.

"All right, throw a steak in your own jowls, too but keep it quiet and Chad's father better end up liking this. All this shameless lying is really costing me." Anna continued.

Meanwhile, Joshua went to look for Marcus and wasn't having much success.

"Marcus, hey where are you?" he called.

_Later…_

A taxi cab stopped in front of the WNT studio and dropped off a passenger. The man looked to be in his 50s, had white hair and blue eyes.

"Chad!" he yelled.

At hearing his name, the journalist nearly tripped as he walked up to his father.

"Dad, what a pleasant surprise." Chad replied.

Chad's father, Orville frowned.

"Surprise? What are you talking about? I called yesterday and told you I was coming."

"Of course, what I meant was.., what a pleasant treat." Chad said nervously.

"Eh," Orville muttered. He looked around, noticing something.

"Say, you know what this place reminds me of?"

"Uh…success?" Chad asked.

"Vs, there aren't any on the premise are there? You know how I detest them." said Orville.

"Vs? Of course not, I'm far too busy to be bothered with them." Chad replied.

The two of them then heard a loud vocal cry.

"What was that?" Orville asked.

"Um, a coyote. I'm doing a report on them for the NYC department of journalism and multimedia. They escape Central Park from time to time, but I know how to keep them in line." Chad explained.

Just then Thomas walked by with what looked like some steaks that recently came off the grill.

"I got the fresh meat, Mr. Decker, I'll toss it to them right away." He said.

"Uh, right. Go on Thomas." Chad replied.

"You control this coyote problem by throwing them meat?" Orville asked.

Chad frowned; he was also starting to sweat.

"I like it," his Dad said after a moment.

A short time later, Thomas unlocked the back door and walked in.

"Hey, check it out, fresh steak. Now keep quiet so Mr. Decker's V hating father will respect him." said Thomas.

One by one he passed out the steaks. Samuel was first in line, then Malik and Joshua was last. After that, Thomas went back out and shut the door.

Joshua put down the steak he was holding with his teeth.

"Chad's Dad?" he wondered.

Looking through a knothole in the wooden fence he could see Chad and Orville.

"I must say Chad, this work place of yours isn't as pathetic as I expected." Orville admitted.

"Well, thanks Dad." said Chad.

"But I can't get over the feeling that there are Vs around. For instance, what are these posters doing here?" Orville asked.

Chad gasped, when his father pointed to the stack of 'We love Vs' posters in a plastic bin. "No, no Dad these are my posters. I mean, Haley dropped them off, we're recycling the paper." He answered, laughing nervously.

"Well good, cause the Vs are ugly, horrible, strange creatures. If I ever come across one, I'd make it into soup." Orville said.

Chad whimpered, why did he have to get dragged into this whole mess?

Joshua stepped back after hearing the conversation.  
>"Wow, that old man is meaner than a junkyard dog." He said.<p>

"Who cares? With food like this, I wish he'd visit everyday." Sarita replied.

"Yeah, I'm surprised a chow hound like Marcus isn't out here wolfing this stuff down. Where'd he go anyway?" Samuel asked.

"Good question, I've been looking all over and…" Joshua trailed off when he spotted a figure hiding behind a nearby tree.

"And I think I just found him."

He walked over and immediately recognized who it was.

"Uh…Marcus?"

"I'm not Marcus, I'm a tree, now go away or so help me, I'll drip sap all over you." He said.

"Come' on, you can't hide forever." Joshua pointed out.

"I have to, Joshua. If Rebound spots me, she'll never leave me alone." Marcus explained. Ever since Rebound got there Marcus and everyone else learned how much of a handful she really was. The one place Marcus knew of where Rebound couldn't follow him was the east wing. It was one of the few areas on the ship that was marked as a 'no females allowed' zone. Whenever Rebound wasn't following Marcus or Joshua around, she often went to look for Marie or Sarita. The two of them had been more successful in finding places where Rebound couldn't sniff them out, one of them being Malik's apartment.

Joshua thought about what Marcus said, now it was just getting to be ridiculous.

"Aw, you're getting way more worked up over this than you need to. I mean, yeah she's energetic and be a little… talkative but she's not that bad."

No sooner did he finish his sentence, Rebound walked by. She froze when she saw Joshua and Marcus.

"Marcus!" she shouted, pouncing on him.

"It's you! It's you! It's you! It's Marcus, my new best friend Marcus."

"I really, I really missed you. You wanna hang out? huh? Huh? Let's do something, come on, let's go!" said Rebound.

"Sure, ok Rebound, how about hide and go seek? You count to a billion." Marcus suggested and ran off to hide.

Shortly after Rebound closed her eyes and started to count.

"She's gonna count all the way to a billion, isn't she?" Sarita asked, watching the whole thing.

"I think she just might." Joshua answered.

"999,999,999….a billion! Ready or not, here I come!" said Rebound before she ran off.

In the process she bumped into Joshua and Malik, the two of let out a startled yelp.

The next thing they knew they had fallen over.

"Oh! Why Joshua," Sarita said sheepishly, noticing the male V was lying across her midsection.

Joshua laughed nervously, noticing how awkward it really was.

"Get off my stomach!" Sarita yelled after two seconds.

No matter how hard Marcus tried to hide, Rebound seemed to find him.

"Gonna find ya! Gonna find ya! Gonna find ya! Yeah, yeah! Ya… come' on, come' on come' on." She said excitedly. "Gonna find ya! Gonna find ya!"

Marcus yelled fearfully and ran, Rebound chased after him, laughing.

Joshua followed them and noticed they had knocked over one of the props.

"Uh-oh," he said.

Meanwhile, Chad had pretty much wrapped giving his father a tour.

"Well, Chad I must say your new work place, is remarkably not entirely disappointing." said Orville.

"Oh Dad, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me and I assure you I'm just as important as this building looks." Chad replied.

Just then, Marcus ran by, with Rebound chasing him, followed by Joshua.

"What was that?" Orville asked.

"Uh, nothing Dad, nothing. Why don't we go inside for some oatmeal cookies? You like those right?" Chad answered.

"Thomas!" he yelled.

"Uh-oh," he then noticed, Marcus followed by Rebound and Joshua.

Before he could move, Thomas was knocked over.

"Whoa! Whoa! Watch where you're going, Mr. Decker needs me to take care of…" he paused when he recognized Joshua and the others.

"Wait, you three aren't supposed to be out here. Oh no! Hey, comeback!"

"I tell you, Dad this job of mine is so important you wouldn't believe all the important things I do all day." said Chad.

Before either one of them could enter the building, a boy about Tyler's age rolled up on his skateboard.

"Dude, I'm here about this intern, 'cause I wanna like, interview her." He explained holding up a copy of Samuel's flier.

"Intern? What is nutty little beatnik talking about?" Orville asked.

"I-I have no idea, obviously he's some lone kook who got lost and…" before Chad could finish, a female reporter walked up holding the same flier.

"Hey, I'm here about that intern, can I see her? I'd like to speak with her now!" she said.

"Back off, toots. I was here first." said another reporter.

"Tell me where she is or else." He continued.

Shortly after several reporters from various TV networks and newspapers came up, each of them holding a copy of the fliers Samuel had posted.

Orville looked at his son suspiciously.

"Chad," he growled.

"Dad, I promise you, there's a perfectly good explanation for all this. I-I…" Chad was cut off when Rebound ran by a second time.

"Aah!" Orville yelled.

As Rebound and Marcus went by they knocked over the props that had been set up.

Orville glanced at Chad angrily who replied with a nervous grin.

The two of them were quickly alerted by a loud rumbling noise and got out of the way as the last prop fell; hitting the ground with a loud 'thud'.

The group of reporters all ran off, it wasn't long until the sound screaming quieted down.

As Orville looked around he noticed a shuttle taking off as well as Anna and Samuel talking not too far away. He looked at the ring Anna was wearing then he glanced at Chad's and noticed the similarities.

Orville gasped. "You're engaged?" he asked.

Chad whined, "Maybe," he said in a meek voice.

After running for what seemed like twenty minutes, both Marcus and Rebound stopped.

"Found you!" she said happily.

"Oh Marcus that was great. We should do this all the time, don't ya think, huh? We should always be together just you and me. Me and you, best friends forever and ever!"

"Stop! I can't take it anymore!" Marcus shouted.

Rebound shrugged her shoulders and looked at him fearfully.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

Marcus groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose before he spoke.

"All you do is follow me around, and jump all over me and chase me!"

"You're the most annoying person I've ever met and I don't want to speak to you never, ever ever, again!" he finished.

The tears that had built up in Rebound's eyes were now running down her cheeks.

"Ok, if that's what you want." She said sadly, sniffling as she wiped her nose on her sleeve.

Joshua watched the whole thing from a distance; he wasn't sure how to react.

"Marcus, what was that all about?" he asked.

"I couldn't take it anymore, Joshua, I just couldn't." Marcus replied.

"Look, Mar I understand, I've got fourteen sisters of my own. But you kind of hurt her feelings just now." said Joshua.

"I guess I did, didn't I?" Marcus asked.

"You're her friend, she cares about you." Joshua pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right. I should go apologize to her." Marcus concluded.

Joshua smiled.

"That's the Marcus I know."

"Hey Reina, I just wan…" Marcus trailed off when he noticed Reina was nowhere in sight!

"Where'd she go?"

Meanwhile, things between Chad had his father weren't going too well.

"You're engaged? And all this time you've been lying to me? I'm disgusted." said Orville.

"But Dad…Pops. Please, it's not what it looks like." Chad sputtered.

"What it looks like is a disappointing son, who will be cut out of my will, trimmed from the family scrapbook and uninvited to the next family reunion." Orville replied.

"But the three legged race!" Chad exclaimed.

"Forget the three legged race! Worry about the Visitors, because if any of them get close to me again… I'll-I'll chop them into mince meat pies!" said Orville.

He got into the nearest taxi and slammed the door.

Chad sighed as the cab drove off, thinking about what had just happened.

As they walked up the side of the WNT studio, Joshua and Marcus were working on forming a search party.

"Don't worry Marcus, we'll find her." Joshua assured him.

The two of them stopped for a moment as a taxi cab drove by.

Looking in the back, Marcus spotted something familiar and gasped.

"I just did!" he said.

In the back of the cab Orville left in was Reina!

Both Joshua and Marcus tried to follow it but wound up stopping at the corner.

"Rebound! What have I done?"

**PART 3 COMING SOON…**


	3. Rough day

**Here's the third part of the story. Just a note about the coyote thing mentioned in chapter 2, in Central Park coyotes have been seen and captured in the park. **

**Now on with part 3: Chad decides to patch things up with his Dad but will things work out?**

It had been almost an hour since Orville had left the WNT studio and after the incident involving the props collapsing, everyone was pretty tense at the moment.

While Chad sat at his desk trying figure out what to do, Marcus was doing the same thing. "We got to bring back Rebound, We've got to bring back Rebound." He said nervously. "I know, Marcus we're working on it." Joshua explained.

"Yeah, we got Ryan and Tyler out there looking for her right now." Samuel explained.

"And if anyone can find a shiny freshly washed taxi cab, it's them." Sarita added.

_Meanwhile at the docks, near the Manhattan Bridge…_

Both Tyler and Ryan had set off in the direction of where the cab gone but so far they hadn't found anything until now.

Inside the taxi, Orville thought about what happened that afternoon during his visit.

He and Chad didn't have a close father/son relationship and didn't see or talk to each other that much.

"Rotten son, can't believe he lied to me, knows how I hate Vs. Ugly, foul smell…" Orville stopped short when he noticed Reina came out of her hiding place in the trunk and was staring right at him.

The two of them looked at each other and screamed.

Both Ryan and Tyler were alerted by a loud: "Aaaaah!"

"That's it!" said Ryan.

"Let's go," Tyler replied.

Now that they found the cab, they headed back to the studio.

_At Chad's desk…_

"All I wanted was Dad's approval and now he thinks I'm a failure." said Chad.

"Maybe if you just talk to him, ya know, tell him the truth." Haley suggested.

"The truth? I can't do that. But I've got a better idea, I'll tell him I'm a private investigator, I have an office located in Brooklyn. 'Dad, if I told you more, I'd have to skip town.'" Chad continued.

Both Haley and Thomas frowned.

"Skip town? Wait, are you a journalist or a detective?" Thomas asked.

"Detective? What are you…? Why am I even talking to you two? I've got to go out there and tell him something. Anything." Chad replied.

He grabbed his jacket and cell phone before heading out the door.

"Being a detective is nothing to be ashamed of." Thomas said after a moment.

While Chad went to catch the next bus, his father had his hands full at the moment.

"Come back here, you crazy scoundrel!" he yelled, chasing Reina.

The two of them were the lobby of the Plaza hotel.

As Reina ran she knocked over a large object which shattered as soon as it hit the floor.

"That's a priceless tiffany vase!" Orville exclaimed.

After about five minutes he cornered her.

"Ha! What are you gonna do now, eh Missy?"

Rebound looked at him fearfully and whimpered.

Orville raised an eyebrow, realizing something.

About a block away, the subway came to stop and the conductor kicked off five passengers. "What are you runts doing here?" he asked before kicking the quartet onto the platform. "You got somewhere to go losers? You can walk!" he said with a laugh before shutting the door.

As the subway pulled off, the five passengers dusted themselves off and got up.

"Samuel, I thought you knew what you were doing. The UPS truck, the horse drawn carriage, we get all the way to the subway and you blew it by letting a human see you?" Sarita asked.

"Did I blow it, Sarita? Did I really? I hope your words make the own gravy, 'cause you're about to eat 'em." He said.

The two of them looked up and saw the Plaza hotel across the street.

"Sorry, should've known better, I guess." She apologized.

"Nicely done." said Joshua. When they found out from Ryan and Tyler the direction where the cab was going they knew which part of the city to search.

"Ok, Marcus let's go get what we came for."

He looked around and noticed the only ones standing there were him, Malik, Samuel and Marie.

"Marcus?" he said in a puzzled tone.

Panting heavily as he went up to the building, Marcus ran ahead of the rest of them.

"Rebound! Rebound?" he said looking throw the windows, one by one. He gasped when he spotted her sitting in the hotel's café across from Orville who was holding a steak knife and laughing.

"No! Don't worry, Reina I'm coming for you." Marcus looked around trying to figure out a way to get in. "Oh no, I've got to get in there. Uh…uh…" he then looked up and found a way in. "The fire escape!" he walked up to it and realized he couldn't reach it.

"Aww, but Vs can't climb trees." Then he had an idea.

"Or can they?"

He climbed up a nearby tree and made his way up the fire escape.

_Meanwhile…_

The rest of the group had crossed the street and entered the hotel. All four stopped in their tracks when they walked by the café entrance and stopped Orville.

"Oh this will be delicious," he said with a laugh.

"Oh no! That old man's gonna eat her!" Samuel exclaimed.

"No time to find Marcus, we've got to stop this." Said Joshua.

Before they could do anything else he saw Chad walk in.

"Oh snap! It's Decker!"

At hearing this they all spread out in an attempt to avoid being seen.

As Chad entered the café he tried to think of what to say.

"Dad the truth is…" he cleared his throat.

"The reason I didn't tell you is… I really like the three legged race and…" Chad snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his father's voice.

"Chad?"

"Dad, you see the thing is…"

Next thing he knew, Orville was hugging him.

"You are wonderful!" he said.

Chad frowned.

"I–I am?"

After fifteen minutes of climbing, Marcus managed to get in.

"Here goes nothing,"

He climbed into air condition vent and landed on the floor in the middle of the room with a small 'thud. The dust caused him to cough.

"Rebound!"

"Marcus?" she said in surprise.

"I came to rescue you." He replied, dusting himself off.

"Rescue me? How come?" she asked him.

"I saw him, Reina. That crazy human was going to chop you up and put you in his soup. Well, not if I can help it!"

He stood near her protectively, growling and looking around the room.

"Wait a minute… you'd risk your life to protect me?" Rebound asked.

"Uh-huh, that's what friends are for." Marcus replied.

"But Marcus, Orville's nice." Said Reina.

At that moment he raised an eyebrow.  
>"Say what?"<p>

"Oh yes, I was mad at you for lying to me all this time but then I met the nicest young lady from you job." Orville explained before taking a sip of his coffee.

"You did? I mean… really?" Chad sputtered.

"And you don't really, hate the visitors?"

"Well, I always assumed I did but that red headed intern is so energetic and talkative. She reminds me of your mother. Now I understand why you decided to propose to Anna." Said Orville.

Chad heard a small 'crunch' as his Dad hugged him once more.

"Dad, you're hurting me!" Chad said in a raspy voice.

"And we've been talking and laughing ever since, he even bought me lunch; but thanks for trying to rescue me Marcus. You're the best friend ever." Reina said, causing him to blush.

"Aw, thanks."

Just then he gasped when he realized something.

"I've got to get out of here but first. Here, it's nothing special just a friendship bracelet."

He explained handing Rebound a bracelet made out of pink and white fabric.

"Thanks, Marcus." She said hugging him.

"I'll be sure to wear it the next time I see you."

"Next time? What do you mean next time?" he asked.

"Well, now that I got transferred to New York, I'll see you more often, right? Right? Right?" Rebound answered.

After a short pause, Marcus chuckled nervously, "Right."

"I have to go." He then proceeded to make his exit right before Orville came back to the table.

"There you are, come' on Chad's getting ready to leave." He said as he and Rebound went into the lobby to find Chad.

"Well, I didn't see this coming." Joshua admitted, watching the whole thing from near the front desk.

"You mean this wasn't part of your big plan?" Sarita asked.

"No, Rita, as much as I'd like to take credit, this time it was out of my hands." Joshua replied. He winked at Marcus who grinned.

"Call me as soon as you get back," said Orville before Chad left, heading back to the studio…

**End…**

**Well that's it! Ok not quite, there is an epilogue coming up. Due to other projects and such, it might take a while.**

**Epilogue coming soon!**


End file.
